Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Sell What You don't Use

Bicycling for me is a quick way to get from point A to point B, run errands and another form of exercise.

I ride my bicycle to go food shopping. Ride to my nearest Target or Home Depot when needed.

I would take really long trips, from Jersey to NYC. Yonkers, Washington Heights, the South Bronx. Mostly visiting family.

In 2017, I’ve found myself using my bicycle a lot less. Why? Walking and listening to podcasts had taken over.

Podcasts provide me with education, entertainment, material for content of my own. The process of being in motion while listening helps me grasp what I’m hearing through the headphones. Walking and listening are ideal during great weather days, but I found myself doing the same during the winter months.

One might ask, can’t you listen to podcasts while bicycling? Over the years, I’ve been hit by cars while riding. I wasn’t following common sense rules of the road. Riding distracted is dangerous.

Lately I’ve been paying attention to my patterns. My daily behaviors. What things I regularly use? If I don’t use that thing, I’d sell it on Ebay and make some extra cash. My Ebay store is www.paulsellsthings.com I wasn’t using my bike so I put it up for sale.

Much more space became available in my tiny studio apartment, and I was the happier for it.

However, nostalgia for times past makes me want to do otherwise. I recently was motivated to look back at some of my earlier vlogs. I felt they often had great messages, but were poorly put together.

I sold a lot of the vlogging equipment I had at the time. It was seldom used. Looking back at those old vlogs taught me many lessons and made me think how I would do things differently if I would take up video blogging again. Also what cameras, devices I would need to do so effectively.

I also did loads of bicycling in the videos, which made me miss my bicycle.

Lessons learned here:

-Pay attention to your patterns and what you regularly use, clothes, utensils, shoes are examples. Sell or get rid of the rest of your stuff you don’t use. You won’t take any of that stuff with you when you pass on. Why put the burden of getting rid of your stuff on someone else? If you don’t want to deal with it, why do you think someone else will? Things that I’ve kept(that I almost never use); fire extinguisher, flashlight, hammer, just to give a few examples. I’ve kept these in case of emergencies or if something needs fixing in the apartment.

-Make mistakes, experiment-fail-experience! Those early vlogs taught me how to put together a more cohesive video. I was inspired and made a new vlog recently. I feel it came out great compared to my old stuff. See it here.

-If you sell a thing you use to own, you can most likely get it back. Especially with eBay. Old action figure from your childhood? Find it on eBay! A specific bicycle model you loved? Find it on eBay! I’m not saying you will find that exact thing but a copy or similar item may do the trick.

I took my bicycle off sale. Greased, oiled it. Rode it around the neighborhood, it was great. I missed it.